The men behind the fan-backed takeover bid for St Mirren have vowed to stump up their own cash if the scheme runs into money trouble, Express Sports can reveal.

The 10000Hours group yesterday lodged a revised £1.25million bid to buy the club after chairman Stewart Gilmour told them the offer they submitted a fortnight ago wasn’t up to scratch.

We have been told that Gilmour — who is selling a controlling stake in the club with four of his boardroom allies — was not happy with the size of the up-front lump sum 10000Hours boss Richard Atkinson and his team were prepared to pay.

He also wanted personal guarantees from Atkinson and other members of his group, such as former Buddies director Gordon Scott, that they would cough up cash if their supporter-assisted project failed to come up with the readies for future instalments.

10000Hours have already won the backing of over 1,000 fans who have pledged to hand over monthly deposits in exchange for a vote on how the club is run.

However, around 50 supporters have already cancelled their direct debits after growing fed-up with the length of time it has taken Atkinson to strike a deal.

Yesterday marked the third anniversary of the selling consortium’s decision to put Saints on the market but they keys to St Mirren Park have yet to change hands.

However, it has now emerged that the 10000Hours leadership have agreed to up their first payment and will also cover any shortfall further down the line if their bid is accepted.

Last night, Atkinson would only say: “The consortium have come back to us and asked us to review a couple of matters which we have responded to today.”

The Maxi Group haulage boss, however, would not be drawn directly on the Paisley Daily Express’ revelations that Scottish ex-pat Dave Wares is the man behind a secret rival bid based in the US.

We reported on Wednesday that the technology expert was fronting a five-man consortium that hoped to beat 10000Hours to a deal.

But Atkinson did say: “We are in a competitive situation and can only make the best offer we can.

“From day one, this bid has been about making a bid which the fans can afford and we are sticking to that.

“If another offer is made which also protects the legacy and assets of the club for the club and community, which is what we believe is offered by fan mutual ownership, then it is entirely up to the selling consortium to decide what to do.”